Book Recommendation of the Week IV: My Most Excellent Year

My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger

A fellow Bostonian, Kluger loves to set his stories in known territory (Boston), so the landscape should be familiar for locals. The charm of the book, though, is not in the location but in the characters: T.C. Augie, Ale, Andy, T.C.'s Dad, Lori, and of course, Hucky. T.C., Augie and Ale narrate the novel in turns, but letters from T.C.'s dad and Lori appear sometimes as well. Though focusing mainly on the romance between T.C. and Ale and between Augie and Andy, it manages to cover many other heart-warming story-lines. This book is a feel-good book, especially perfect for days when a little cheer is in order.

The novel takes place in Freshman year for T.C., Augie and Ale. Ale is the daughter of a diplomat who has been trained to follow her family, even though she dreams of pursuing dance. T.C. ( short for Anthony Conigliaro) loves baseball, particularly the Red Sox, loves his mother, who died when he was six, and loves his best friend Augie; he must mature quite a bit before reaching his full potential, though. Augie is T.C.'s best friend, newly discovering his sexuality while continuing his passionate love affair with the theater. Most adorable, though, is Hucky, the boy T.C. befriends after a baseball game. Hucky is deaf, so T.C. must learn sign language to communicate with him, and the friendship between the two is both sweet and humorous in turn.

In the midst of all of their character development, T.C. wants Hucky to meet Mary Poppins, Ale is starring in Kiss Me, Kate and all three are working through the government to restore the baseball diamond at Manzanar, an internment camp where Japanese-Americans were held during World War II. Sometimes the characters are a little too good to be true, but that fact can be easily looked over.

There's a lot to read and a lot to love in this book. From the GLBT perspective, there are GLBT characters, but the characters don't struggle with their identities as much as similar characters might in other books. There are some problems, but they're all addressed relatively easily and quickly. This isn't a book about exploring the main issues of sexuality, but it does a wonderful job showing two people in love regardless of age or gender. My Most Excellent Year is definitely worth the read, and if you enjoy it, Kluger has written three more fictional novels and one nonfiction book as well.